Haven In A Storm
by sarahbell86
Summary: Ethan and Kristina in his hospital room. One shot.


**Author:** sarahbell05 / sarahbell86

**Fandom:** General Hospital

**Characters/Pairing:** Ethan Lovett/Kristina Davis

**Rating:** PG just to be safe.

**Warnings:** None

**Word Count:** 1098

**Summary:** Ethan and Kristina in his hospital room. One shot.

**Notes:** Mostly just friendship fluff, though you can see romance if you want to. Kristina mentioning sleeping in Ethan's hospital room was too cute to pass up. Also, have no fear, the next chapter of "Near To You" IS coming!

After Carly and Michael leave, Kristina's not sure how to act. When she had asked to stay with Ethan, she had said it before thinking. Sure, Ethan was one of the few men she was comfortable around, but she felt completely responsible for putting him in that hospital bed in the first place. Despite what anyone said, if she hadn't lied about Kiefer - if she had said something the first time he hit her - then none of this would have happened. Mac wouldn't be fighting for his life, Mr. Bauer and Kiefer wouldn't be dead, and Ethan wouldn't be lying there with a hole in his neck staring at her in that quizzical way he always did.

They talk for a minute, with Ethan trying to put her at ease, like he always did, instead of telling her to go away and never come back, obviously the smarter choice. Since he had met her, he'd been beaten up, arrested, almost killed, and now shot. Either he was a glutton for punishment or just plain stupid. Their hands lie together on Ethan's bedside as they fall into a comfortable silence. Ethan was one of the few people - actually, probably the only person - with whom Kristina could just relax around. It was hard, though, knowing that only hours ago Ethan had been bleeding out on the floor while Kristina had watched Mr. Bauer die.

"Hey, none of that." said Ethan, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"What?" she replied, shrugging her shoulders as nonchalantly as she could.

"Replaying what happened over and over in that head of yours. I know you, Kristina, and I know you're still blaming yourself for what happened. You have to stop, it was Warren Bauer's fault and nobody else's." Kristina nodded, more in agreement to stop thinking about it than actually agreeing with him.

As the minutes tick by, the day's events are starting to take a toll on Kristina and she feels herself nodding off in the chair. She can't remember how long it's been since she slept, and before she knows it she's completely passed out, hunched over in the chair her head resting on Ethan's bed.

She doesn't know how long she sleeps, but when her latest nightmare jerks her out of her sleep, her back and neck are completely stiff.

"Ow..." Kristina mutters, rubbing the back of her neck. She looks up at Ethan, finding him asleep as well. As far as she can tell from the beside, the halls are still eerily quiet, meaning the lockdown must still be going on. Her eyes move around the room, trying to find something a little more comfortable to sleep in, but it's completely empty. She almost resigns herself to going back to sleep in the chair when Ethan's voice startles her.

"I'm not asleep, you know." he says, his voice heavy with sleep.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." she replies, whispering despite the fact that they're alone.

"You were talking in your sleep, I was worried." he said, and Kristina feels her cheeks turn red. Even her mom doesn't know that she still has nightmares about Kiefer hitting her, killing her, and killing the people she loves.

"It's nothing." she replies, looking everywhere but at Ethan.

"Love, if you think you're going to lie to me you're going to have to become much better at it than that." he replies, and Kristina smiles.

"Well, you never taught me how to perfect my poker face." she snaps back, and Ethan smiles in return. Despite everything he had been through at her expense, he was still able to smile at her, which always shocked Kristina.

Her next joke is cut off by a yawn, and Kristina decides she really must not have been asleep for very long, because she's still exhausted.

"Come on." Ethan says, pushing himself off of the bed enough to move to the edge. Kristina's eyes widen, unsure what exactly the crazy Aussie is trying to do this time, until he pats the open area next to him.

"Ethan, you were just shot..." she starts, but is cut off when Ethan rolls his eyes.

"Yes, in my neck, so if you lay on the other side it'll be fine." he replies, patting the area again. "I know how uncomfortable that chair must be, so let's go."

Kristina feels her entire body fill with fear. Sure, she hadn't really had a problem being afraid of Ethan, and she had been close to Johnny during their ruse, but lying in a bed with Ethan...that was completely different. She looked up at Ethan, only to find him staring at her, waiting for her to stop fighting and just take the offered space. Knowing he wouldn't give up until she did, she moved around to the other side of the bed and slipped in as carefully as she could. As much as Ethan denied it, he had almost died and she didn't want to make things any worse. Once she was in the bed, she laid herself out as close to the edge of the bed as she could, which she knew was the reason for the smirk on Ethan's face. She smiled back and moved in as close as she dared, at least enough that she wouldn't end up sprawled on the floor if she moved too quickly.

"My arm is kind of squished, love." Ethan said after a moment, and Kristina started to push herself off of the bed again. "Hold on." he added, moving the arm between them up over Kristina's head and nudged it under Kristina until it was wrapped around her shoulders. It shocked Kristina how the movement didn't terrify her, like it had with Johnny and Taylor. Maybe it was because she knew Ethan, and knew that he would never hurt her, but she counted it as progress. She leaned her head back again, letting it fall onto Ethan's shoulder. His arm around her shoulders tightened, pulling her in closer to him. Despite the antiseptic smell that seemed to permeate into everything in the hospital, she could still catch a hint of that _something_ that was distinctly Ethan. To her, it was security and protection, someone that would always be there as a friend and a shoulder to cry on. Despite his risky lifestyle and rogueish ways, to Kristina Ethan was safety, a haven in a storm. As her eyes slid closed again, she fell into the first deep sleep she'd had since Kiefer's attack.

This time, there were no nightmares.


End file.
